Sunday Salad: Our Go-To Chicken Salad for Meal Prep, Picnics, and Potlucks

This creamy, crunchy recipe is our favorite for make-ahead lunches or feeding a crowd

Just like Sonya’s famous potato salad—the one everyone always asks for— this classic chicken salad is a go-to in Kari’s kitchen. It’s a hit with clients, family, and friends, and once you try it, you’ll see why.

Creamy, crunchy, and endlessly versatile, it’s the kind of dish that makes meal prep feel like a gift. Pack it into a lunchbox, scoop it onto your favorite greens, or serve it at a weekend brunch, picnic, or potluck—it always fits right in.

Over time, we’ve picked up a few key tips to level up everyday chicken salad. We roast our chicken in the oven (thank you, Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home), and we always use bone-in, skin-on breasts for tenderness. In a pinch, rotisserie chicken works great—just stick to the white meat and save the rest for soup or tacos. The other key step is shredding the chicken before it goes in the fridge. It makes for the softest texture, and it’s worth the extra minute. Don’t be tempted to skip this step! Also, don’t forget to season the chicken generously with salt before adding any other ingredients.

The recipe below is traditional in the best way. Along with that tender roasted chicken, we add crisp celery and fennel for crunch, scallions for a subtle oniony bite, and Best Foods (aka Hellmann’s) mayonnaise for that signature creamy snap. This salad is easy to double or triple when you’re hosting a crowd or delivering a meal to a friend.

Let us know if you make it, tweak it, or eat it straight from the bowl… just like we do!

RECIPE: CLASSIC CHICKEN SALAD

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 60-75 minutes with roasting and cooling

Ingredients:
olive oil
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, about 3 cups shredded meat
4 stalks celery, preferably the whiter stalks near the heart, about 1 cup finely diced
1 small fennel bulb, about ½ cup finely chopped
5 scallions, green/light green parts only, about ½ cup finely chopped
½ cup mayonnaise, or more to taste
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste

For serving: soft rolls, pita bread, crackers, butter lettuce, romaine spears, and/or your favorite pickles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Add chicken breasts to a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until cooked through (about 30-40 minutes), then let sit until cool enough to handle. (Alternatively, you can use the white meat on a rotisserie chicken.)

While the chicken roasts, chop your veggies: rinse and finely dice the celery. Separate the long stalks and fronds from the fennel bulb, and them for another use (broth, or thinly sliced in another salad!). Cut the fennel bulb in half, remove the tough center core, then finely dice and add to the bowl with celery. Chop scallions by separating the green tops from the firmer, white bottoms; save the white parts for stock or other use. Finely chop the green and light green parts of the scallion (it’s ok if they’re a little wet from washing).

Once the chicken is cool, shred by hand, pulling the large pieces apart into shorter shreds for a more pleasing texture. Yes, you can chop your chicken with a knife but your salad will be more chunky and less creamy. Once your chicken is finely shredded, season with a light sprinkle of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper as the mayo will also add salt and flavor and you can always add more later.

Stir the seasoned, shredded chicken together with the mayo and cut veggies until well-combined, then taste and adjust if necessary (you want this seasoned well enough to eat all on its own).

When made with freshly roasted chicken this salad keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container.

When building a sandwich with the salad, add any additional salt and pepper if desired.

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